Mr. McHugh, 39 and a native of Ottawa, Canada, received degrees from Carleton University in Ottawa and Ryerson University in Toronto before joining the Financial Post in Toronto as a reporter in 1991. He moved to Dow Jones Newswires in Toronto in 1995 as a reporter and was promoted to Chicago bureau chief for the financial news service in 1997, supervising as many as 10 Midwest reporters.

As Crain's online editor, he replaces Christine Woolsey, who resigned to pursue other media opportunities.

"Mike brings a wealth of first-class business news experience to Crain's," says Editor Jeff Bailey. "He knows the region, the companies, the people and the economy. And that will only strengthen our work both online and in the weekly newspaper."